BACKGROUNDRodan (ラドン Radon) is a fictional mutated pterosaur introduced in Rodan, a 1956 release from Toho Studios, the company responsible for the Godzilla series. Like Godzilla, he is designed after a type of prehistoric reptile (the Japanese name "Radon" is a contraction of "pteranodon"). Radon is usually referred to as "Rodan" in the United States, possibly to avoid confusion with the atomic element Radon; however, any time his name is written in English in Japan, it is written as Rodan. He is occasionally an enemy of Godzilla, but is usually depicted as one of Godzilla's allies. Rodan started out as enemies of mankind and of Godzilla, which explains the occasional enmity between the creatures and Godzilla himself on the rare occasion that they are pitted against one another.

Rodan isn't the apocalyptic threat that Godzilla is, which isn't much of a comparisson really... a super-sonic pterosaur the size of a skyscrapper is damn dangerous. Rodan, like most of the "good" daikaijū, is basically just the lesser of multiple evils. Rodan will still level your city and eat you, just like Godzilla, he just isn't quite as mean about it.

Fun fact, according to George Takei's autobiography, the 1956 American dubbed release of Rodan was his first professional acting job, and all dialogue voices were provided by himself and four others. Oh, my!

BACKGROUNDAnguirus (アンギラス) is the second daikaiju to appear in the Godzilla films, debuting only a year after Godzilla in the 1955 Toho film Godzilla Raids Again. The first monster Godzilla ever fought, he has allied himself with the King of Monsters on several instances against more dangerous threats, eventually becoming his most trusted ally and a fan favorite. Anguirus is one of the only quadrupedal kaiju, and roughly resembles the Ankylosaurus dinosaur.

Anguirus is armed with sharp teeth, claws, horns, spiky tail, and a spiky carapace. Although an aggressively tenacious fighter, Anguirus lacks ranged capability compared to some of Godzilla's other allies and opponents. Nevertheless, regardless of how much stronger his opponent might be, Anguirus never retreats from a fight without first taking substantial punishment.

Two of his more impressive attacks involve jumping backward to impale his opponents on his spiked carapace and his vise-like bite; the most famous example of the latter being when he faced King Ghidorah in Destroy All Monsters when he latched onto one of King Ghidorah's necks, his grip holding firm even as his opponent took flight. In Godzilla: Final Wars, Anguirus was redesigned with the ability to curl himself into a ball and propel himself forward with tremendous speed. The Final Wars version also possessed a spiked tail club like a real Ankylosaurus, though he was not witnessed using it in combat.

Again, "not as dangerous as Godzilla" is not the same thing as "safe."

Edit 10/21/12: Working through the list of errors kindly supplied by Psistrike.

Wow, you've been posting up a storm as of late. Sweet Daikaiju builds, too- they're a rough bunch to fit into the M&M framework at times (I mean, do you go with a Thor/Supes-ish PL 14-16, or do you throw them one step beyond?), but this is a good job of it.

Also: Freddie Mercury rules. 'Nuff said. One of the greatest frontmen ever, if not THE BEST.

BACKGROUNDEbirah ( エビラ ) is an enormous lobster and/or shrimp that was first featured in the 1966 movie Ebirah: Horror of the Deep, but most of us know him from the MST3K episode riffing on the English-dub, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster. A slightly bigger and meaner Ebirah was last seen in 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars... but not for long. Ebirah, enormous lobster and/or shrimp... not much else to add.

Edit 10/21/12: Working through the list of errors kindly supplied by Psistrike.

Jabroniville wrote:Wow, you've been posting up a storm as of late. Sweet Daikaiju builds, too- they're a rough bunch to fit into the M&M framework at times (I mean, do you go with a Thor/Supes-ish PL 14-16, or do you throw them one step beyond?), but this is a good job of it.

I purposefully kept one eye on the official DCA build of Superman while building Godzilla. They're fairly evenly matched in my estimation, with the King of the Monsters really only surpassing the Man of Steel in endurance thanks to its Regenerator G1 power... Clark has far more maneuverability and speed, and is a good deal more intelligent.

If it was a one-on-one fight, in a empty field, I'm going to give it to Clark. But that's not where the fight will happen... As we all know, Godzilla goes after Tokyo so that's where Superman would need to face him and deal with all the collateral damage, endangered civilians, and the like.

Godzilla should be the sort of threat that Clark can handle, but not an easy one. I hope my build is sufficient.

Devastation Bob wrote:Godzilla vs. Cthulhu, who wins?

I love my Lovecraft. But, remember, Cthulhu got taken out by a steamboat prow to the belly... sure, that didn't kill him, but Godzilla ain't going out like that. The King of the Monsters has this one by a knockout in the fifth.

Kreuzritter wrote:to be fair, Ebirah went out like a boss in final wars, being thrown by godzilla to spear Hedorah, who had also just been tossed out of the ocean moments before

Ebirah is a great monster, he's just not a terribly complex one. He's a 60m tall lobster... he's basically what TV Tropes would call a jobber. A monster that's well liked by the fans, but is basically stuck on the kaiju C-List.

COMPLICATIONSDisability: Daikaiju are essentially mute, but Zilla does have hands!

BACKGROUNDZilla (ジラ, Jira) is Toho Studio's official name for the titular creature of the 1998 American film, known to many American fans as "GINO," Godzilla in Name Only. Zilla got his Japanese name for his first (and to date, only) appearance in a Toho film, Godzilla: Final Wars. Zilla is one of the monsters controlled by the Xiliens, and under their control he attacks Sydney, Australia. The towering reptile topples down buildings, chomps on vehicles, incinerates a crowd with his fire breath, and even eats a couple of civilians... he appears later on in the film, re-released by the aliens in Sydney to do battle with the original Godzilla! East meets West, right? Clash of the ages? No. The King of the Monsters sends the imposter flying into the Sydney Opera House and finishes him off with his atomic breath. The battle was 11 seconds long. Go, go, Godzilla!

Like a lot of American Godzilla fans, I remember eagerly awaiting this film. Big Hollywood budget, big Hollywood special effects, set in the States!? How could it fail! I don't think it was really the monsters fault, his design is great and he's got a sort of "Ultimate Universe" downgrade to Godzilla's power set that made a better fit for a late `90s American film. But... well... the movie itself. Ugh. I could explain... but I'll just refer you to the Nostalgia Critic's complete review. He remembers it, so I don't have to.

Yes, he's a daikaijū with a Stealth score. I mean, on the one hand, the police and military in the `98 fill are clearly morons -- how do you lose track of a giant monster in Manhattan!? -- but, on the other hand, Zilla is clearly hiding from them on purpose. So, yeah, radioactive ninja dinosaur... go fig.

Edit 10/21/12: Working through the list of errors kindly supplied by Psistrike.

Batgirl III wrote:BACKGROUNDZilla (ジラ, Jira) is Toho Studio's official name for the titular creature of the 1998 American film, known to many American fans as "GINO," Godzilla in Name Only. Zilla got his Japanese name for his first (and to date, only) appearance in a Toho film, Godzilla: Final Wars. Zilla is one of the monsters controlled by the Xiliens, and under their control he attacks Sydney, Australia. The towering reptile topples down buildings, chomps on vehicles, incinerates a crowd with his fire breath, and even eats a couple of civilians... he appears later on in the film, re-released by the aliens in Sydney to do battle with the original Godzilla! East meets West, right? Clash of the ages? No. The King of the Monsters sends the imposter flying into the Sydney Opera House and finishes him off with his atomic breath. The battle was 11 seconds long. Go, go, Godzilla!

Like a lot of American Godzilla fans, I remember eagerly awaiting this film. Big Hollywood budget, big Hollywood special effects, set in the States!? How could it fail! I don't think it was really the monsters fault, his design is great and he's got a sort of "Ultimate Universe" downgrade to Godzilla's power set that made a better fit for a late `90s American film. But... well... the movie itself. Ugh. I could explain... but I'll just refer you to the Nostalgia Critic's complete review. He remembers it, so I don't have to.

To be fair I have to agree that the design was actually good (pretty much they took Jurassic Park T-Rex and gave him Godzilla-style spikes), but anything else about Zilla is a testament about why some ideas should be left to who them best.

Adn, are you sure about the fire bresthing? I remeber some people saying that Zilla doesn't breath fire and the scenes where he looks like it were actually because of some gas main exploding.

COMPLICATIONSDisability: Daikaiju are essentially mute, and have no hands.

BACKGROUNDKumonga ( クモンガ ) are a giant spider that dwells in the jungles of Sogellel Island. Kumonga appears in Son of Godzilla (1967) and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Not much else I can really offer here, as Kumonga gets little screen time and doesn't have much of a personality. Like Ebirah, he's basically just a C-Lister.

Edit 10/21/12: Working through the list of errors kindly supplied by Psistrike.

Woodclaw wrote:Adn, are you sure about the fire bresthing? I remeber some people saying that Zilla doesn't breath fire and the scenes where he looks like it were actually because of some gas main exploding.

Godzilla: Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura has said in interviews that Zilla is indeed breathing "acidic fire" during his initial attack on Sydney. It's never shown explicitly on camera, the film shows a crowd of people running until they are all blown away by a wall of fire, just as we get the dramatic appearance of the monster walking into camera view around a building.

Woodclaw wrote:Adn, are you sure about the fire bresthing? I remeber some people saying that Zilla doesn't breath fire and the scenes where he looks like it were actually because of some gas main exploding.

Godzilla: Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura has said in interviews that Zilla is indeed breathing "acidic fire" during his initial attack on Sydney. It's never shown explicitly on camera, the film shows a crowd of people running until they are all blown away by a wall of fire, just as we get the dramatic appearance of the monster walking into camera view around a building.

'Godzilla' by Blue Öyster Cult wrote:"With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound,He pulls the spitting high-tension wires down;Helpless people on subway trainsScream Bug-eyed as he looks in on them;He picks up a bus and he throws it back downAs he wades through the buildings toward the center of town;Oh no, they say he's got to go, go go Godzilla!Oh no, there goes Tokyo, go go Godzilla!"

BACKGROUNDThe current Mechagodzilla, nicknamed 'Kiryu,' was featured in two films: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS.

In the Millennium version of continuity, the original Godzilla had been killed in 1954 by the Oxygen Destroyer, Japan still found itself under attack from other monsters such as Mothra and Gaira over the decades. When a second Godzilla appeared in 1999, this was the last straw. Japan proposed a shocking plan: to dredge up the skeleton of the first Godzilla from Tokyo Bay and use it as a skeleton/framework for constructing a Mechagodzilla, also known as 'Kiryu' or Mecha-G. Yet they were unaware that this bold move would only infuriate and provoke this new Godzilla.

Cloned DNA from the bones was also inserted into the quasi-organic control computers, intended to take over subconscious motor control functions for the crew. By 2003, the metal monster was ready. Mechagodzilla was unleashed, but the cyborg's latent memories were reawakened by the new Godzilla's own roars the memories being Kiryu's attack on Tokyo in 1954 as the original Godzilla. Mechagodzilla broke free of its pilot, Lt. Akane Yashiro, and proceeded to trash the city (manual overrides being ignored) without the new Godzilla's help for a couple of hours until it ran out of power. Things just get even more chaotic from there...

Mechagodzilla 'Kiryu' is a well balanced machine, and the most agile Mechagodzilla to date, moving with a fluid, almost organic grace. Its armament includes an oral maser cannon, dual laser cannons on each arm, and a detachable flight pack that contains two forward firing rocket launchers and four batteries along its back and sides for launching guided missiles. For close combat, a short blade can be extended from Mechagodzilla's dual laser cannons which was not only able to penetrate Godzilla's nearly impervious hide, but was also able to discharge a crippling electrical surge into his opponent's body.

Mechagodzilla 'Kiryu''s most devastating weapon is the Absolute Zero Cannon (a weapon also utilized by the Gotengo). Stored in its chest behind a trio of folding panels, the Absolute Zero Cannon fires a ball of energy that flash freezes its target, thereby causing it to disintegrate under the weight of its own mass.

Thanks to Psistrike for pointing out that Growth gives Protection to creatures without stamina equal to normal Stamina gain from the power, I was able to shave 16 PP from 'Kiryu''s powers. This was all dumped into Minions. Mechagodzilla can now be accompanied by a cadre of JXSDF soldiers and mundane vehicles. As per usually, they won't do much against evil daikaijū, but that's the life of a soldier in Japan...

Edit 10/21/12: Working through the list of errors kindly supplied by Psistrike.